Our First Train Ride
by Ahja Reyn
Summary: [HPCoF UNIVERSE] The Hogwarts Express. A place where memories start out for those beginning their first year at Hogwarts. What memories await Gabe as he steps up to the platform? [HPCoF UNIVERSE]
1. Getting Ready

**Title**: Our First Train Ride  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: T because 11 years old is too young for anything really bad.  
**Warning**: Set in the CoF universe  
**Disclaimer**: I may not own Harry Potter and company, but I sure as hell own the children!  
**Dedication**: I blame this prologue on Dem, because she got me started on what happened BEFORE the train, and I got all inspired to write it out.  
**Author's Note**: Happy Birthday me! (yes, its my birthday) This story is set right at the start of Gabe's first year. Meaning you all get to see them at their younger, almost innocent stage.

**GETTING READY**

Gabe's eyes were open before the sun had even hit them. He remained still for a moment, frowning as he wondered why on earth he was awake so early. And then it hit him. He was starting Hogwarts today!

Grinning like an idiot, Gabe threw off the covers and scrambled off the bed, only to land face-first on the floor with a loud thud. Not to be deterred, he quickly stood while attempting to shake his foot loose of the one sheet that had somehow wrapped itself tightly around his ankle.

After several tries (and many trips) he managed to free himself and fall headfirst into his already open wardrobe. Quickly pulling out the clothes he had selected sometime around midnight the night before and throwing them on his bed, he dashed down the stairs to the kitchen to wake Dobby and grab a bit of breakfast.

"DOBBY!" Gabe yelled as he burst through the swinging wooden doors.

His reply came in the form of a startled cry and several loud crashing sounds.

Peering around the center table, Gabe spotted Dobby rubbing his now sore bum, sitting next to an overturned stool and several food items.

"Oh, Master Gabriel! I is not knowing you was waking yet! Please forgive Dobby for not having your breakfast ready!" Dobby squeaked as he quickly picked himself up off the floor to bow in greeting.

"Don't worry about it. Listen, since I'm starting Hogwarts today, can you make me something special? Like sausages wrapped in chocolate chip pancakes topped with strawberry ice cream?" Gabe asked eagerly.

Dobby pulled a face while wringing his hands worriedly. "But Masters Draco and Harry is telling Dobby that Master Gabriel is needing a well-rounded, healthy breakfast! Especially if he is starting school!"

"Well, my fathers aren't up yet. And I won't tell if you won't."

"But-"

"I want my breakfast up in my room by the time I'm finished bathing. Bye!" Gabe said with as much authority as he could before rushing out of the kitchen and back into his own room to take a quick shower.

Okay, so he got a little distracted after he filled the tub and one of his old kelpie bath toys fell in.

Along with several mermaids.

And kappas.

And grindylows.

And sharks.

Oh, and we can't forget about the hydra that was ferociously guarding the sunken treasure of Atlantis with its life against the greedy mermaid tribe and the battle that ensued between the sharks and grindylows.

Bath time suddenly ended when one of the sharks turned on their master hydra, causing the rest of the toys to team up and mutilate the three-headed serpent. Gabe was forced to separate them by throwing the whole lot out of the tub when the fight moved a bit too close for comfort (if you catch my drift).

After drying himself off and kicking his mutinous toys for good measure, he entered his bedroom and smiled as the sweet smell of breakfast assaulted his senses. Good ol' Dobby.

Hastily dressing and bolting his breakfast with as much dignity expected of a Malfoy-Potter, Gabe looked up at the time. It was only 6am.

With a sigh, Gabe decided to double check his trunk to make sure he remembered to pack everything; his clothes, his robes, his books, his quills, parchment, ink, money, cauldron, potion ingredients, not his broom because of that stupid first years rule, his snitch-

Wait. Where was his snitch?

Frowning, Gabe quickly went through his trunk again, only to find that his precious snitch (a gift from his grandfather) was not where it was supposed to be. Panicking slightly, he proceeded to throw all the items out of his trunk and over his shoulder.

Not finding the snitch in the now empty trunk, Gabe dashed over to his wardrobe and proceeded to empty that out, thinking maybe it was left in one of his pockets. No, not there either.

Nor was it on his dresser, his nightstand, his bed, his bookshelves, or Felix's cage. It wasn't even in his bathroom.

Not bothering to fight back the feeling of dread that was washing over him, Gabe ran out of his room.

"DADDY!"

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

If there was one thing Draco would ever admit to loving (besides his children that is) it was the warmth of Harry's arms wrapped tightly around him while they slept. He loved the protection and reassurance they seemed to offer as they lulled him to sleep, and the comfort and love they radiated when slowly coaxing him awake in the mornings.

However, that beautiful sensation was ripped from him this morning when both men were jarred awake not by the sound of their bedroom door slamming open, but by the bed suddenly attempting to throw them off by convulsing violently.

Looking around stupidly, Draco realized that the quaking wasn't caused by the bed but by his oldest son jumping _on_ the bed.

"Bloody-! What the hell d'you think you're doing!" Draco roared, effectively causing Gabe to stop his annoying antics.

"I can't find my snitch," Gabe said simply as he fell to his knees between his fathers.

"That's what you get for playing Quidditch at…good Godric! It's not even seven!" Draco exclaimed as he looked at the clock.

"I never said I was playing Quidditch, I said I couldn't find my snitch," Gabe said simply.

"Gabriel," Draco growled, "we all have a very long day ahead of us. Now why don't you go back to bed and-"

"But I'm not tired," Gabe interrupted.

"Fine. Then go find something to do until the rest of us wake up," Draco said, trying his best to be patient.

"I want to play Quidditch."

"Then go play Quidditch," Harry said as he yawned and stretched.

"But I can't find my snitch."

"Then we'll look for it later, just please let us have a bit of a lie in," Harry said.

Gabe looked back and forth at both his parents. "Ew! You guys had sex last night, didn't you!"

The bright red blush on Harry's face and the murderous glint in Draco's eyes confirmed the accusation.

"Gross! And I'm sitting on the bed!" Gabe instantly scrambled off and landed in an ungraceful heap on the floor. "You guys should have warned me! Lock your doors or something so I can't come bursting in," he said as he stood with his back firmly to his fathers.

A feeling prickled in the back of Harry's skull and he turned to look at Draco. Sure enough, the blonde's hand was already reaching for his wand, ready to hex their son. Let it be known now, the Draco was definitely NOT all sunshine and daisies in the morning. In fact, Harry would willingly bet their entire fortune that Draco was easily the world's WORST morning person, hands down.

Not wasting any time, Harry quickly summoned a pair of trousers and slipped them on before jumping out of bed. He then proceeded to grab Gabe around the waist, tuck him under his arm, and haul him out of the room.

"How about we find that snitch?"

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Harry swore he could feel his right eye twitch at he stared at the pig sty that was once Gabe's clean room. Forcing himself to cross his arms, Harry fought back the temptation to hex his son.

"Explain to me why you unpacked your trunk again?" Harry asked with a forced calmness.

"Because it was overcrowded and I couldn't see if my snitch was there just by moving stuff around," Gabe answered.

"I see. And why is your wardrobe now empty?"

"Because I had to go through all the pockets just in case I left the snitch in my pants or robes."

"And the bookshelves?"

"I had to check behind all the books in case it was hiding."

"And _why_ has your bed been stripped?"

"Well…sometimes I sleep with it and I thought it might've gotten lost in the covers." Gabe mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Harry sighed. If the room wasn't in such a clutter, he could easily order all of Gabe's school supplies to pack, but now with everything jumbled together in one giant mess, it was out of the question.

"Well, it looks like you're just going to have to clean this mess up," he said.

"What! What about my snitch?" Gabe demanded.

"I'll find it while you clean."

"Why do I have to clean? Can't you just wave your wand and have everything repack?"

"Not with this mess," Harry said simply.

"Well, can't you just have Dobby -?" Gabe tried.

"No. Dobby has his own list of chores to get done, which include making breakfast. If he stopped to clean your room, breakfast would be late, and Draco would be mad."

"But-"

"No buts. This is what you get for waking us up early." With that Harry ruffled Gabe's hair and left.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

"What did you do to him?" Draco asked sleepily as he felt the bed shift with Harry's familiar weight.

"I made him clean his room," Harry said as he snuggled into Draco's body heat.

"Hmm. You're a horrible father. You should have simply made Dobby do it. All it takes is a snap of his fingers."

"And risk Gabe bursting back in here in fifteen minutes complaining of boredom?" Harry chuckled.

Draco frowned as he wiggled himself into a comfortable position back in Harry's arms.

"I didn't think so," Harry said smiling as they both fell back asleep.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

It was now a bit past 9am as Gabe cautiously peered into his younger brother's room. He saw Lief sitting up in bed, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Grinning to himself, Gabe entered the room and hopped up on Lief's bed.

"Good Morning!" he said cheerfully.

Lief simply blinked for a few moments before crawling over to Gabe and plopping himself down with his head in his older bother's lap.

"Morning," Lief replied sleepily.

"Hey! Don't go back to sleep on me! You'll wrinkle my pants!" Gabe protested.

Lief frowned in confusion as he turned his head slightly to look at Gabe's pants. "Why are you dressed already?"

"I'm starting Hogwarts today! Remember?" Gabe exclaimed, surprised that his brother would forget.

"Oh yeah," Lief said sadly as he sat up and pulled himself off the bed.

"What's got you so down?" Gabe asked as he watched Lief stumble over to his wardrobe.

"I'm not going to see you for a whole year!" Lief said as he began changing.

"That's not true! You'll see me during Christmas and Easter holidays. And I promised I'd write to you and everything."

"Yeah, I guess," came the halfhearted reply.

"And I'm sure Father will let you come and visit with him from time to time." Gabe offered.

This seemed to cheer Lief up immensely. "Really?"

"Well, you'd have to ask Father first, and I suggest you wait until tomorrow because he's not in the best of moods right now," Gabe said nervously.

"Why? Did you wake him up or something?" Lief asked.

"Something like that," Gabe answered.

"You're meeting Mack at the train station, right?" Lief said as he stood before his vanity chest while brushing his hair.

"Yeah." Gabe watched his younger brother for a moment with slight envy. While his own platinum tipped jet black hair took more after his dad's and stuck out in every direction, Lief's black streaked, silver-blonde locks took after their Father's and lay smoothly and perfectly however he wanted it.

"Are you scared?" Lief suddenly asked.

"Why would I be scared?"

Lief shrugged as he put the brush down. "I don't know. I heard Hogwarts is big. And there will be all these people there."

"So? I'll have Mack with me," Gabe said offhandedly as he tried to do something with his hair in the mirror.

The mirror snorted at Gabe's futile attempts, causing the boy to scowl. But Gabe refused to give up hope.

"Yeah, I guess," Lief shrugged. "So, what are we going to have for breakfast?"

"I already ate," Gabe replied absent-mindedly, still intent on fixing his hair.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

The oldest Malfoy-Potter child finally pulled his eyes away from his reflection, frowning at Lief's dejected tone. "Oi, where are you going?"

"To see if Jasmine and Rose are awake," came Lief's suddenly cold reply.

"What? Why? Don't do that," Gabe pleaded as he followed his brother down the hall. "Let them sleep. Don't you want to hang out with me? You're not going to see me for a whole year!"

"But I'm hungry!" Lief argued as he began to walk faster.

"So what? I'll sit with you while you eat! Don't go running to them just because I didn't wait for you before breakfast! Lief!" Gabe shouted as he took off running after the blond.

Squealing as he heard the increase in his brother's footsteps, Lief sprinted the last few feet to his sisters' room, opening the door with a bang.

Screams from both girls were heard causing Lief to come to a screeching halt as he quickly turned his back to the room, only to be slammed into and knocked flat on his back by Gabe, who hadn't stopped in time.

Gabe looked down, opening his mouth to ask Lief if he was alright, only to see that Lief was already scrambling out the door on hands and knees before clambering to his feet to dash off. Confused by this, Gabe looked back into the room, only to have a doll thrown at his face, quickly followed by several other random objects.

"Get OUT, you pervert! We're getting dressed!" one of the twins (Gabe didn't have the time to tell which) shouted as he turned around and ran right back out, door slamming shut behind him.

"Lief! You punk! You left me to fend for myself!" Gabe shouted as he ran after the laughing boy, prepared to catch him at all costs.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Glancing at the grandfather clock through the dresser's mirror, Harry decided he should probably get Draco out of bed. Anymore of a lie in, and they'd all be late. Bracing himself for the worst, the Gryffindor summoned up his courage and headed towards the bed.

BANG!

"DAD! DAD! SAVE ME!" Lief screamed as he burst into the room, running to hide behind Harry. "HE'S GONNA KILL ME!"

"Whoa, what?"

"I am not!" Gabe cried, chasing Lief in circles around their dad's legs. "I'm just going to maim you a bit, that's all!"

"Hang on, what do you mean that's all?"

"NOOOOOOO!" Lief ran to the oversized, king size bed and scrambled under the covers.

Gabe moved to chase the younger boy, but Harry had grabbed the back of his shirt. "You coward! Get out here and face your punishment like a man!"

"No!"

"You bloody Slytherin!"

"Hey!" Harry admonished.

"I like being Slytherin!"

"Gabe, what are you-?"

"He made me go into Jasmine's and Rose's room while they were changing!" Gabe explained before Harry could finish asking.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Well, you ate breakfast without me!"

Harry frowned. "Now what's that got to do-?"

"That doesn't mean…are you even listening to me?" Gabe demanded as the covers could be seen shifting and Lief's giggling along with some low mumbling could be heard. Suddenly, the slight shiftings turned into violent, one-sided thrashings.

"No! Gabe, help me! Father turned me into his pillow! Help! No! Stop! That-that tickles!"

Gabe instantly wrenched himself free of his dad's grasp and leapt onto the bed, ripping the covers aside to reveal a sleep-ruffled Draco tickling Lief for all he was worth.

"Don't worry, Lief! I'll save you – AHH! No!" Gabe had been crouched, ready to pounce on his father, when someone grabbed him and hauled him off from behind.

"Excuse me, that's MY husband you're about to attack," Harry said, his arms tightly binding Gabe to his chest.

"Yeah, and that's MY brother he's attacking!" Gabe retorted as he made a futile attempt at breaking free.

"JASMINE! ROSE! HELP!" Lief cried, tears streaming down his face from laughter.

"You idiot! Don't call them here! They're still mad at us!" Gabe yelled.

"NE-NEVERMIND!" Lief managed to shout.

"Say, that's a good idea," Harry said grinning. "Girls, could you come here for a moment!"

"NO! Grr! Dad, you suck! Put me down! No! Put me - haha – stop!" Gabe squirmed as Harry took a page out of Draco's book and started tickling his son.

A loud thud from Lief falling off the bed brought an abrupt end to the games.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, peering over the edge of the bed and down where Lief lay.

"Heh heh heh…ow…heh heh heh…" Lief wheezed, his smile still apparent.

Draco smirked as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "What time is it?"

"Well, if you get dressed and we grab breakfast to go, we should be on time," Harry replied as he put Gabe down.

"I already ate!" Gabe added in happily as he climbed up onto the bed.

"You wanker, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" the Slytherin demanded as he hurried over to the closet.

Harry shrugged. "You needed your beauty sleep."

"Potter, you know perfectly well I don't _need_ beauty sleep. Have the children eaten?"

"I have!" Gabe said; giving a sheepish grin at the scowl Lief sent him.

"I don't think so, but I'm pretty sure breakfast is ready," Harry said, ignoring Gabe.

Lief's head snapped towards Harry. "Breakfast is ready!"

"It should be, although it's probably cold…by…now." Harry trailed off as Lief dashed out of the room and thundered down the stairs. "I guess he was hungry."

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

"Draco! Get your arse down here, or else Gabe's going to be late!" Harry shouted from the bottom of the steps. "Gabe, where's your trunk?"

"We're sitting on it," Gabe replied dully, playing with the edge of the blanket that covered Felix's cage, feeling rather down that no one had the time to search for his snitch unless he wished to be late.

"We have plenty of time, Harry. Don't get your knickers in a twist," Draco said as he made his way down the steps, tugging at his sleeves.

Harry turned and looked up, his mouth open, ready to retort, but lost his voice as the sight of Draco's attire.

Considering the fact that they were in a muggle village, Harry had been reminding Draco for days that they must wear muggle clothes when they went to the train station, regardless of the fact that other wizards would be dressed in traditional robes when they got there. While Draco had whined and complained about this, it seemed he had finally found something to his tastes, which had effectively shut him up.

It also shut Harry up as well as his eyes hungrily ate up the sight before him.

Simple black pants accentuated narrow hips, and a dark grey turtle neck stretched over the expanse of a well-sculpted chest, while hugging the rest of the muscled body, leaving little to the imagination. Silver eyes stood out vividly from pale features as they looked up under a few strands of stray blond bangs to see Harry gaping.

Smirking, Draco rubbed his hands over the cashmere material covering his upper torso as he approached his lover.

"Seeing me come like that must have been well worth the wait," he said in a seductive whisper, stopping well into Harry's personal space as he pushed the Gryffindor's chin up with his finger, effectively closing the open mouth. "Unless this…" fingers traced rosy lips "…was an offer?"

"Always," Harry breathed, his hands unconsciously making their way to wrap around the slim hips before him.

Draco didn't bother to reply, seeing as how Harry was already leaning in to meet his lips, which was as good an answer as any in both men's opinion.

"EWWWWW!" Four voices chorused the second their lips touched, causing them both to pull away.

"I'll be gone in less than two hours, can't you just wait?" Gabe demanded.

"Harry will be gone in less than twelve hours, so no it can't," Draco replied, but made no move to continue the previous activity.

"Right! So, is everyone ready?" Harry asked, fighting back a blush. "Let's get going!"


	2. On The Platform

**Title**: Our First Train Ride  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: T because 11 years old is too young for anything really bad.  
**Warning**: Set in the CoF universe  
**Disclaimer**: I may not own Harry Potter and company, but I sure as hell own the children!  
**Dedication**: This is dedicated to Araidel, because she asked for the whole story in the first place. And to Parker because his happiest memory happens to fall here. And to Lief and Rama because Lief makes his first friend, as does Rama.  
**Author's Note**: Happy Birthday Lief! This story is set right at the start of Gabe's first year. Meaning you all get to see them at their younger, almost innocent stage.

**ON THE PLATFORM**

The suffocating smoke, the rushed state of the smothering crowd; to say that Gabe was thrilled would have been the understatement of the century. The boy was practically beside himself at least five times over due to his excitement. Although according to Draco, he only appeared to be beside himself because he wouldn't stop jumping around in his energized state.

The stares they were receiving on Platform 9 ¾ seemed to triple as more and more people's attention turned in the direction of the Malfoy-Potter family. Due to the fact that this was to be Gabe's first year at Hogwarts, the entire family came along to bid him farewell. Very few people had ever seen the entire family together in person, let alone in the papers, and an overly animated Gabe wasn't helping them blend into the crowd very well.

Noticing the displeased scowl that seemed plastered across Draco's face, Harry looked over at the source of his husband's turmoil and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight that suddenly presented itself before him.

His eldest son was currently standing on top of his trunk, hopping on his toes, in an attempt to see over the throng of people. Meanwhile, the baby of the family, Lief, had thrown himself haphazardly on his back across the unoccupied portion of the trunk so that his head was hanging over the edge, watching the now upside-down legs of everyone walk by. Yes, very un-Malfoy indeed, Harry mused.

"He said he'd be here! Why isn't he here?" Gabe demanded as he took a break from his searching to complain to his fathers.

"Maybe he got lost," Rose spoke up as she peered around her dad to look at Gabe.

"Maybe he's dead," Jasmine said simply as she tightened her grip on her father's hand.

"One could only hope," Draco drawled, fighting to bite back his smirk.

"Draco!" Harry scolded.

True, Draco Malfoy-Potter had learned to tolerate (and even be polite to) the Weasley family, but no one had ever said anything about having to actually like them. And the fact that his son was best friends with none other than Mack Weasley, Ron's eldest son, did nothing to help him in keeping all snide remarks to himself when it came to setting a good example for the children.

"What? Oh please, who am I to squash the hopes and dreams of our lovely daughters?" Draco defended as Harry gave him a disapproving look.

"I'm sure Mack's just running late, Gabe," Harry said.

"But what if they're lost? What if he tried to Floo here and missed the grate! Or what if they were running so late that they tried to Apperate here and ended up splinching themselves because of all the extra luggage!" Gabe panicked.

Harry rolled his eyes at his son's dramatics. "If anything, they're probably somewhere else on the platform."

"But you just said they're running late," Lief said as he lifted his head slightly to look at his dad.

"Well, one or the other, I'm sure," Harry said simply.

Gabe frowned. "You need to keep your stories straight. No wonder Father can always tell when you're lying."

Harry scowled as the rest of the family burst into laughter.

"Gabe, why don't you go and search for him or something. At least that will keep you occupied," Harry said, deciding it would be best to give the 11 year old something to do before he started taking his frustrations out on those around him.

Thinking it over for a moment, Gabe nodded before hopping off his trunk and dashing into the crowd, in search of his elusive red**-**headed friend.

"I certainly hope Gabriel plans on coming back for his luggage because I have no intention of loading it onto the train for him," Draco said distastefully as he eyed the trunk that Lief was now fully sprawled over.

Harry laughed. "How did _you_ get your trunk onto the train your first year?"

"My father had Dobby take care of such trivial matters, and after that I had Crabbe and Goyle do it for me, how else?" Draco replied.

"Well I certainly hope you don't expect Mack OR Ron to take care of Gabe's trunk. Or any of the Weasleys for that matter."

"Why not?"

The dangerous look Harry gave Draco answered that question.

"Dad?" Lief sat up. "Will I ever have a friend like Mack?"

"Good Godric, I hope not!" Draco said, before quickly apologizing under Harry's angry glare.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he turned away from his incorrigible husband.

"Someone I'll know before going to Hogwarts. Like a best friend."

Both Harry and Draco exchanged worried glances. Their children didn't have much of a social life due to the hounding media that was constantly snooping around the borders of the Malfoy-Potter property. But Mack had been around pretty much since the day Gabe was born, and Jasmine and Rose obviously had each other. So what did that leave for little Lief?

"Well, there's always Mack's brother, Joey…" Harry suggested.

"Potter, we already have enough Weasleys invading our house on a weekly basis. The last thing we need is…"

Lief frowned as is fathers began to bicker. Aunt Hermione had already tried to encourage a friendship between himself and Joey by insisting the two boys play together. However, this hardly ever worked, and Lief would often end up seeking out the company of Gabe and Mack. Not that there was anything wrong with the younger Weasley; he and Lief just weren't compatible was all. Joey was much too quiet and shy for Lief's tastes, and the boy seemed perfectly content with playing by himself.

Besides, even if they ever did become friends, Joey was Mack's _little_ brother, and younger than Lief by a year, meaning the Malfoy-Potter would still be entering Hogwarts alone.

"You shouldn't scowl like that," Rose said, sitting daintily down on the trunk next to Lief.

"Yes, you're much too young to acquire wrinkles," Jasmine agreed as she poked the boy's side, indicating she wanted him to move over.

Looking up, Lief saw that a full blown argument had escalated between their fathers, and many of the spectators who had been casting glances their way earlier were now nowhere to be seen.

"You'll still have us, you know," Rose offered.

"But you're girls."

Rose rolled her eyes. "We're your sisters, so that doesn't count."

"Plus, Gabe will probably let you hang out with him and his friends."

"Yeah, right," Lief said sullenly, rolling around so that he was now on his stomach.

"If you don't believe us, then why don't you just ask Gabe?"

Lief eyed both his sisters warily, as if weighing the truth of their words. Finally reaching a decision, he picked himself up off the trunk.

"What are you doing?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm going to find Gabe," Lief answered, much to his sisters' displeasure.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Lief looked around helplessly, despair growing by the second. It was impossible to find anyone in this crowd. Feeling intimidated by the large number of students, Lief didn't dare call out for Gabe, or for his fathers, whom he seemed to have lost.

A loud bang nearby startled the young boy as he looked over to see a large canary wearing a red and yellow scarf surrounded by a group of laughing children. The giant bird let out a squawk as it gave itself a shake, causing feathers to fly in every direction and scaring poor Lief as he took several steps back.

"Oi! You need to watch where you're going," A dark-haired boy sneered as Lief bumped into him.

"Who are you?" One of the boy's friends asked.

"I'm-"

"Don't be stupid, Edward. It doesn't matter what his name is," said a blond boy. "He's obviously much too young for Hogwarts."

"He could be from an important family, you dolt."

"Oh please. _I've_ never seen him before. Besides, no respectable family would allow their child to just wander around."

"I take it that's why your mother is standing right over there?" asked the boy Lief had originally backed into.

As the group shared a laugh at the blonde's expense, Lief worked up the courage to ask these boys for help.

"I – I'm looking for my brother."

The laughter quickly died down as the attention was once again focused on him.

"Your brother? Is he a student?"

Lief nodded. "He has black hair with blond-"

"Give us his name, you pipsqueak."

"Oh. It's Gabriel Ma – ow!"

"Black and blond hair?" the blond asked, tugging at Lief's own locks. "Like yours?"

"N-no." Lief pulled away. "His has blond tips."

"What's up with your hair anyways? Did your parents let you dye it?"

Lief looked up. "It's always been like this."

"You're lying. Nobody's hair is naturally streaked."

"He can't be lying, Castor, look at his eyes!"

"Merlin, he can't be fully human!"

"I heard if your mother hangs around potions too much while she's pregnant, stuff like this can happen."

"Was your mother an addict?"

"I – I don't have-"

"Whatever, I bet it was just some charm gone wrong," Edward snorted. "Hey kid, what spell did you use?"

Lief could feel the tears swelling in his eyes. "I didn't."

"Vega! You should get on the train before all the compartments fill up!" A dark-haired lady (who could only be the boy's mother) called out.

"We will in a moment! We're just – hey!"

Lief took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to leave, scrambling through the bodies of people, unable to see where he was going due to the smoke emitting from the train.

Tripping over someone's foot, Lief fell to the floor and crawled towards the closest wall, where he curled up under the nearest bench and started to cry.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to go home right now. He hated it here. Everyone was so big and scary…

Hugging himself tightly, Lief wished Gabe wasn't going to Hogwarts. He didn't want his older brother to become mean like those other boys.

"Why are you crying?"

Startled, Lief's head snapped up and he found himself looking into a pair of golden eyes. He continued to gaze at the boy in front of him until he realized the youth was waiting for an answer.

Suddenly on guard, Lief quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Was this boy going to be cruel to him as well?

"I'm not crying," Lief said thickly.

"Yes you are. You smell salty and wet," the boy argued. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Lief said stubbornly, staring off to the side.

"Well, if you're not hurt, then why are you crying? Are you lost, then?"

Lief sniffed. "I'm not lost. I know exactly where I am."

"Where's your family?"

"I don't know."

"So you are lost," the boy said with a grin.

"I'm under a bench on Platform 9 ¾. I'm not lost," Lief said darkly.

The boy rolled his eyes and crawled under the bench, despite its cramped space, and sat next to Lief. "Why are you under a bench?"

"Because I want to be."

"Oh. Were you crying because you wanted to as well?"

"No."

"Then why were you crying?"

Lief frowned and fell silent for a moment.

"Because my brother is leaving for Hogwarts," he answered at last.

"Is that all? I have a brother who started Hogwarts ages ago, and I didn't cry."

"But I'm going to be all alone."

"What about the rest of your family."

"They don't count."

"Okay, what about your friends?"

"I haven't got any."

"That's great!" the boy exclaimed, causing Lief to jump at the outburst. "I haven't got any friends either! And d'you want to know the worst of it? My big brother's making me ride the train by myself. He said he doesn't want me to embarrass him in front of the girls."

"How come you don't have any friends? Won't your brother share his friends with you?"

"Why would he want to do that?"

"I don't know," Lief said with a shrug, suddenly worried that Gabe wouldn't want to share any of his new friends with him. "I was hoping Gabe would share his new friends with me, but he's not because he'll become mean after going to Hogwarts."

"What? No he won't."

"Yes he will. He's going to become mean and I'm going to be left all alone."

"What makes you so sure?"

Lief shrugged once again, unwilling to talk about his earlier bullying. "So…you're starting Hogwarts all by yourself?"

"Not really. I mean, there are a lot of other kids my age who are starting this year. But unless I make some friends, I probably will be alone."

"Can I be your friend?"

The boy looked over, his gold eyes wide in surprise. "Really?"

Blushing, Lief pretended to find his shoes to be extremely interesting. "Yeah. Although I can't be with you on the train and stuff."

"Forget about the train. You're not scared that I'll turn cruel?" The boy asked, grinning.

"Well, you're not like those other boys…"

"What other boys?" Golden eyes narrowed.

Lief instantly clammed up once again, forcing the boy to drop the subject.

"I'm Rama, by the way. Rama Lupin."

"I'm Lief."

"Just Lief?"

Lief smiled shyly, but before he could answer, both boys were startled by the appearance of a figure dropping to all fours in front of them.

"Rama, you pussy! We've got 5 minutes before the train leaves. What are you doing under a bench?"

"For your information, dog breath, I'm under here because I want to be." Rama said with a smile.

The boy simply rolled his eyes as he stood back up. "Dad! I found him! He's under the bench!"

Rama copied the boy's eye movements as he crawled out into the open. "Come on. He's just my brother, Wolcott. He won't bite if I tell him not to."

Lief wondered if Wolcott really would try to bite him as he stood, but such thoughts were pushed aside as he saw two adults approach them.

"Rama! There you are! Don't go running off like that without telling us." The brown-haired man scolded.

"I couldn't help it! There were so many new smells," Rama whined.

Looking over at the other man, Lief was surprised to see him staring right back at him.

"Is your last name Malfoy-Potter?" the other man asked.

Lief nodded, frowning in confusion as the brunette's head snapped in his direction.

"Gabe?" the first man questioned.

"No, you can't be Gabe. Gabe wasn't nearly as blonde."

"Sirius, how many children naturally have looks like those?"

"Well, did it ever occur to you that Harry could have made more?" Sirius retorted. "What's your name, kid?"

"His name is Lief," Rama spoke up happily. "And he's my new friend, so you can't tease him."

"You know my dad?" Lief asked, slightly surprised.

"Of course!" the other man replied. "We've known him since before he was born."

Lief's eyes widened. "Really?" These guys must be really old!

"Lief! There you are!"

The entire group turned to see Hermione hurrying towards them.

"We've been looking everywhere for you! Your fathers have been worried sick, and the ENTIRE Weasley family is…" Hermione trailed off as she noticed the two adults behind him.

"Hello, Hermione."

"Sirius! REMUS! Oh my-! What are you-? How-?"

"You could always start with 'Why hello! How have you been?' rather than screeching out our names," Sirius suggested with a cheeky grin.

This clearly broke the ice as Hermione leapt forward a pulled both men into a hug. Lief looked over at Rama, glad to see he wasn't the only one slightly weirded out by this confrontation. How many people did these men know?

"Hermione, what are you doing hugging…strange…men…?" said a voice, walking up from behind Hermione.

"Ron! It's Sirius and Remus!"

Ron simply stood gaping for a moment before turning around to search the crowds. "Harry! You might want to see this!"

"Do _you_ know our dad and Padfoot?" Wolcott asked softly, to which Lief shook his head.

"Honestly, the way you all are acting, it's as if we've come back from the dead," Sirius muttered, causing Hermione to give him a scathing look. But before she could open her mouth, Harry came jogging up to the group with Draco and the rest of the Weasley family behind him.

"Ron! Did you find Lief? Is he alright? Nothing happened, did it?" There was a slight pause as his eyes searched Ron's face frantically for any signs of impending doom, only to land on the two other men in the group. "Remus! Sirius! What on earth are you guys doing here?"

"You know, I can't decide whether I should be proud that he didn't go into shock at the sight of us, or disappointed that our appearance doesn't cause nearly enough surprise or happiness…" Sirius frowned. Then- "Draco! My favorite nephew! I haven't seen you since your wedding!"

Lief's father stood frozen, his expression clearly saying _'Oh holy hell_'.

Suddenly the tension was broken and all the adults (with the obvious exception of a certain blond ex-Slytherin) were hugging and greeting each other like long lost friends, much to the children's confusion.

"Well, it's good to see no one's forgotten about my lost brother," Gabe commented as he joined the group, putting his arm around Lief's shoulder.

"Alright there, Lief?" Mack asked loudly.

"You're not hurt are you?" Rose asked, shoving all the boys aside.

"What's wrong with you, running off like that?" Jasmine scolded as the twins instantly began brushing the dust off the boy's clothes.

Lief scowled. "You're the ones who told me to go find-"

"That doesn't matter now," Jasmine interrupted.

"Yes, the important thing is that you're here and you're safe, even if our fathers don't notice!" Rose said, raising her voice.

"Don't notice what?" Harry asked, turning.

The Malfoy-Potter children scowled, giving their dad a dead-panned look as Lief smiled sheepishly and waved.

"LIEF! Thank Merlin!" Harry exclaimed, rushing forward. "We were worried sick!"

"What were you thinking, wandering off like that without telling any of us?" Draco admonished, taking the chance to pull away from an overly friendly Sirius.

"Ger'off, Dad! I'm okay!" Lief complained. "Rama found me."

"Rama? Who's Rama?" Draco asked.

"He's my friend!" Lief stated happily as the golden-eyed boy stepped forward.

"Hello. Rama Lupin." Rama greeted.

"Rama…_Lupin_?" Harry looked incredulously from the young boy to Remus to Sirius. "You guys had a _kid_!"

"What? Me? A kid!" Sirius exclaimed. "Are you _nuts_? What is it exactly that you are implying?"

"He's mine, Harry. And so is this one." Remus said bemusedly as he tugged Wolcott over.

"And together we make one big happy family," Sirius said proudly, throwing an arm around Remus' neck

"What? When did all of this happen?" Hermione asked. "Remus, you never told us you had children!"

"Yes, well there's a long story behind all that, which we'll have to tell over tea sometime."

"Why not now?" Gabe asked, curious as to how these men knew his fathers.

"Because the train is about to leave."

The sound of a shrill whistle confirmed Remus' statement, cueing the chaotic rush for all remaining students and their families.

"Alright boys; Wolcott, is your trunk on the train? What about Rama's?"

"Yeah, I loaded those ages ago."

"Now, be sure to keep an eye on your younger brother."

"Gabriel, you didn't-"

"Don't worry about it, Draco. There was this nice lady I was talking to earlier who had her sons load Gabe's trunk for me."

"What?!?"

"Hurry up, boys! Get going!"

"Now, I want no funny business this year."

"Oh, Mack! I'm so proud of you!"

"Ugh. Mom! Ger'off!"

"Herm, he's just going to Hogwarts…"

"Bye Father! Bye Jasmine! Bye Rose! I'll see you tonight, Dad! Lief – oof! – hey, I'm too old for hugs now. Don't pout, I'm just kidding! Ack! Don't cry! I promise I'll write to you every week!"

"Bye (sniff) Gabe!"

"Hey! I want a hug too!"

"Bye Rama! Will you write to me as well?"

"You bet!"

Lief smiled, despite the tears running down his face, which he hurriedly wiped away. He watched as the four boys, along with a large number of red-heads climbed on to the train, quickly making their way to the nearest available windows.

"Are there any empty compartments left?" Ron shouted.

"How should I know? I just got on!" Mack yelled back as the train started moving.

"Oh! Lief!" Gabe called out, digging into his pockets. "Here! I got something for you!"

Harry swiftly picked the young boy up and began jogging alongside the train until Lief managed to grab the note from the outstretched hand.

"Read it when you get home!" Gabe yelled as the train picked up speed.

The children continued to wave until the platform was no longer in sight. Gabe turned his head to look in the direction the train was going, smiling as he knew Lief would be alright.


	3. On The Train

**Title**: Our First Train Ride  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: T because 11 years old is too young for anything really bad.  
**Warning**: Set in the CoF universe  
**Disclaimer**: I may not own Harry Potter and company, but I sure as hell own the children!  
**Author's Note**: Happy Birthday Mack! I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. (looks around) I blame Dembo, my beta! (points accusing finger before dashing away from wrath of the falsely accused beta)

**ON THE TRAIN **

Once the platform was out of sight, the boys pulled their heads in and closed the windows.

"Well Rufus, you might want to find yourself a compartment while kids are still running around," Wolcott said as he ruffled his younger brother's hair. "It'll make it easier to steal someone's seat without bullying them around too much."

"Rufus? I thought his name was Rama," Mack said.

"It is," Wolcott answered. "Rufus is just a nickname."

"Why'd you give your brother such a degrading dog name?" Gabe asked.

Wolcott and Rama exchanged glances.

"I thought your dad and my dad knew each other," Rama stated, clearly confused by something.

"Well, obviously," Gabe rolled his eyes. "You saw the way they were greeting each other like long lost friends."

"But then you should know about…" Rama trailed off. For some reason, the conversation was making his eyebrows furrow together in absolute bewilderment.

"Careful now or you'll get wrinkles, Rufus," Wolcott teased when he saw the look of 'situation constipation' etched on his younger brother's fine features causing 'Rufus' to scowl.

"Know about what?" Gabe asked, his interest now somewhat piquant.

Another exchanged glance.

Wolcott cleared his throat. "What, uh, what exactly has your dad told you about our dad?"

Gabe shrugged. "I don't know. I think I've seen his picture maybe once or twice. He might've been at my dads' wedding, but I don't remember."

"So basically, you don't really know much of anything?"

"That's not true! I know that Sirius Black is my dad's godfather. And that Remus Lupin was once the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Gabe said, anxious to show he wasn't completely clueless to the situation at hand, nor the actual dumb ass these people obviously assumed him to be.

"I see. Then I guess they weren't that great of friends then," Wolcott commented airily as he turned to leave, waving his hand about dismissively.

"But, Wolcott!" Rama complained.

"Sorry, bro. But rules are rules. You know what dad said."

"What's he talking about?" Mack asked Rama, who was currently looking rather crestfallen.

"It's nothing," Rama said as he looked away. "I'm going to go find myself a compartment. I'll see you guys around."

Both Mack and Gabe looked at each other as Rama moved down the corridor before rushing to catch up.

"Rama, you don't have to-" Mack began.

"Oh look, here's our compartment! Why don't you sit with us instead of wandering around?" Gabe asked as he peered into a door's window.

Mack frowned. "Gabe, people are already in there."

"Not a problem. Come on."

Gabe slid open the door with a loud bang, startling the five students inside. For a moment no one said anything as Gabe allowed for the intimidation of his presence to settle in.

"Excuse me, but I do believe you are in our compartment." Gabe said pleasantly.

"What are you talking about?" one of the students asked. "We were here first."

"And we thank you for keeping our seats warm, but now it's time for you to leave."

"Wow. You've got a lot of nerve coming in here and ordering us to leave. What year are you in?"

Gabe drew himself up importantly. "First."

The older group of students burst out laughing. Rama felt himself blush as he shot Mack an embarrassed grin. Mack returned the smile, rolling his eyes at his friend's antics.

"Get out of here, kid. I'm sure there are some compartments further up that aren't full."

"No." Gabe stood his ground. "This is our compartment."

The humor of the situation suddenly vanished from the older students.

"I don't see your name anywhere on this compartment," one of the students growled.

"Oh really? That's odd, because I could have sworn that was _my_ name on that trunk you're sitting under."

Heads turned to look at the trunk in question.

"'Gabriel Malfoy-Potter'," one of the girls read. "Malfoy-Potter? _The_ Malfoy-Potter!"

"There's no way! I thought all that gossip wasn't true!"

Gabe's lips curled into the perfect Malfoy sneer. "Well, you better start believing it because my dad is about to become your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Eyes widened in disbelief.

"No way!"

"Wicked!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Wait, which dad?"

"Who cares!"

"Hey, if he's a Malfoy-Potter, you wouldn't happen to be a Weasley, would you?"

Mack blinked, surprised that he was being pulled into the conversation. "Err…yeah."

The exclamations became more pronounced.

"You're lying!"

"Get out!"

"You're the son of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, aren't you? Wicked!"

"Guys, we're sitting in the presence of the children of total legends! Can you believe this!"

"Great, now we'll never get them to leave," Mack muttered.

"Are you Wolcott Lupin's little brother?" the girl closest to the door suddenly asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Yes," Rama answered.

"I knew it!" the girl gushed. "You look just like him! He told us all that you'd be starting Hogwarts this year!"

The level of noise in the compartment rose to new heights, caused entirely by the only two girls that were there within the compartment as they crowded around the three young boys.

"You are all so adorable!"

"I can't believe you're all starting Hogwarts at the same time!"

"I know it's practically a year away, but will you be my date for Valentine's Day?"

"But what about Bobby?"

"Forget Bobby! Who knows where we'll be in a year."

"I'm right here you know," Bobby called out as his friend gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"Hey, can you get us your dad's autograph?"

Gabe scowled. "Why don't you just ask him you bloody self when-"

"Ah! I'm sure Gabe will be more than happy to do so, ladies, but only if you will be so kind as to give us back our compartment," Mack interrupted, slinging his arm around Gabe's shoulder.

The girls looked at one another before nodding and went to collect their possessions. The boys stared in shock as their own belongings were handed to them.

"Oh! What about being my date for the Valentine's Day?"

Rama's eyes nervously looked around the room before he realized that he was the one being addressed. "Erm…I…I'll have to get back to you on that. I need to clear some stuff up with my brother first."

"Wolcott! Oh my gosh, I didn't even think about him!"

"What? No way! You asked his brother, _I'm_ asking Wolcott!"

The girls hurried out, still arguing, as they went in search of the older Lupin.

"Becca! Wait a minute!" Bobby called out as he chased after his girlfriend, his friend close behind.

The final boy remained in the compartment, taking his time in gathering his things together.

"Sorry about them," he said. "Bobby and Stephen are usually pretty nice as long as you don't try to bully them around."

Both Mack and Rama let out half-hearted chuckles. Ignoring Gabe's scowl, the boy continued.

"As for Becca and Whitney, I wouldn't worry about them too much. They're crazy. But on a more serious note, Valentine's Day is usually celebrated at Hogsmeade, but you aren't allowed to go to the village unless you're third year and up. But if you're really looking to go, be sure to come find me. I'll be taking the Head Boy position from Johnson, so I should be able to pull some strings if you were my date."

"Head Boy? But you don't even look any older than fourtee-"

"Winston!" Stephen popped his head back in. "Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah. See you around, Lupin."

Gabe and Mack stood staring at Rama in shock as the boy left.

"Err…right. I guess I should tell you guys now that I'm part veela thanks to my great-grandmother."

"But I thought a veela's allure didn't kick in until they hit puberty," Mack said, frowning thoughtfully.

"Oh, that's because I'm part wo-ooolll…Wolcott! Wolcott's going through puberty and his whole inheritance thing has sort of triggered my own."

"Huh, that's weird," Mack said. "I didn't know it could do that."

"You're _joking_!" Gabe proclaimed.

"Shut up. I'll have to read up on it."

"Mack here is a know-it-all," Gabe explained, mistaking Rama's wide-eyed look of panic for something else. "His mum has had him reading tomes since he was in diapers. In fact, I'll bet he can list off the ingredients, nutrition facts, and magical properties of that candy bar he's holding."

Mack nodded, waving the candy. "Ingredients: chocolate and sugar. Nutrition facts: none, cause too much chocolate will supposedly rot your teeth, at least, according to my grandparents. Magical properties: Cheering Charm since it's a known fact that women turn to chocolates when they're depressed over something stupid."

"See?" Gabe said pointedly. "Hey, where'd you get that anyways?"

"I found it," Mack answered thickly, mouth full of chocolaty goodness.

"Where?"

The redhead pointed to a bag full of sweets sitting in the corner next to the window. "The other students must have left it here."

"You dolt, don't steal their candy!"

"What? Why not? You stole their compartment!"

"I did not steal it, I simply took it back!"

"Well, this candy is a product of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, so technically I'm just taking it back as well," Mack said as he picked up the bag, cradling it against his chest.

"Give me that!" Gabe demanded as he snatched the bag out of Mack's hands.

"Oi! Where are you taking my candy?" Mack asked.

"Back to its rightful owner!"

"But that's not fair! They left it here which means it's up for grabs!" Mack argued. "Rama agrees with me, right Rama?"

Rama stood frozen as a twin set of angry glares fixed themselves on him, one slightly more sinister looking than the other. Personally, he was all for eating the bag of sweets, but he wasn't about to admit that to Gabe (who, in case you hadn't guessed, had the more sinister of the two glares). Plus the fact that Gabe was Lief's older brother didn't help matters much.

Why did he have to prove his loyalties so soon?

Okay, what would Wolcott do?

Rama mentally frowned. Wolcott would offer to return the bag himself and eat all the contents during delivery.

Alright, so Wolcott was a bad role model.

What would his dad do? Well, that was easy. He would have spotted the bag right away and given it back without a moment's hesitation. As for Padfoot…

"I know!" Rama exclaimed as he eyed the bag. It looked pretty full which helped support his idea. "We should return the bag, but keep one or two pieces of candy for ourselves. I mean, there's more than enough in there, so I'm sure six or so won't be missed."

The tension in the room instantly vanished; both boys apparently liking the idea.

"Alright, but I call this!" Mack said, pulling out a small blue package.

"What is that?"

"Er…Gushers (1)," Mack read. "_'Gushing with fruit flavor that goes directly to your head.'_"

"What does it do?" Rama asked curiously as he approached the bag to make his selection.

"Gushers? Isn't that a muggle snack?" Gabe asked as he began rummaging through the bag as well.

"I think so, but Uncle Fred and Uncle George did say they were going to release a new line of products in time for school," Mack said, ripping open the snack.

"Didn't they send you any for beta testing like they normally do?" Gabe asked.

Mack shook his head and tossed one of the fruit snacks in his mouth. "Mum banned them from sending me prototypes after that 'Four Course Meal-in-One Chewing Gum' nearly turned me into a giant blueberry (2). She had a downright fit when they mentioned they wanted to try juicing me to help get me back to normal after admitting they didn't know the proper reversal spell and…Why are you guys staring at me like that?"

Mack shifted uncomfortably as Gabe and Rama continued to gawk at him, their eyes sporting expressions of pure disbelief.

"What? I didn't actually turn into a blueberry. I just turned blue…and got really fat."

The stares continued.

"Unless this isn't about that…"

Gabe and Rama exchanged a glance.

"Err…do this." Rama instructed, patting his own cheeks with both hands as an example.

With a growing sense of dread, Mack reached up to touch his face. Instead of the fleshy texture, he felt something cold, slightly sponge-like, and wet.

"My face! What happened to my…" Mack's fingers continued their exploration. "My head! What's wrong with my head?!"

Mack rushed over to the window. Despite it still being light outside, he could still make out something of a reflection, and what he saw, he definitely did not like.

"AHHH! Why is my head a watermelon?!?"

Bursts of laughter erupted from behind, causing Mack to whirl around, banging the side of his head against the window as he did so.

"Argh! Why don't they put warning labels on these packages!"

"Calm down, mate," Gabe said, still chuckling. "Your head is already back to normal."

Mack felt his head and found that it had indeed returned to normal. "I need chocolate. In fact, I think I'll stick with just the chocolate from now on," he grumbled as he tossed the Gushers aside, giving a fine example of why women ate chocolate for 'stupid' reasons.

"Let me have those," Rama said, reaching for the discarded candy.

He quickly popped one in his mouth as soon as the bag was in his hands. "Am I a watermelon?"

Gabe burst out laughing as Mack tried to suppress a snort.

"No, you're a cherry" Gabe managed to reply.

Rama frowned and dumped the rest of the Gushers out into his palm, sifting through them trying to find another watermelon-flavored snack.

"Why do you want to be a watermelon?" Mack asked.

"Because you have no idea how hilarious it is to see a giant talking watermelon," Rama replied. "I'm doing it for your benefit, trust me."

Gabe rolled his eyes, withholding the comment that a giant talking cherry was just as funny.

"I'm going to return the rest of these," he said. "The bag's already half empty."

Mack and Rama simply nodded, neither bothering to acknowledge the fact that their small piles of sweets amounted to far more than the agreed upon one or two.

Gabe simply shook his head as he picked up the bag and left the compartment.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Gabe had been wandering around for the past forty-five minutes and was now convinced that he was hopelessly lost. He could hardly remember what the students looked like, and since he had no idea which direction they had gone, his chances of finding them were practically zero.

And how was he supposed to recognize anyone in this lighting anyways? Gabe glared out the windows at the constantly darkening sky. The clouds promised rain, and yet the lights in the train had yet to turn on.

An illumination of flickering blue light through one of the compartment door windows up ahead caught Gabe's attention. He hurried forward, peering through the window, trying to see the source of the eerie sight, but the crystallized glass obscured everything except Gabe's now heightened sense of curiosity. Sliding the door open a dozen or so centimeters, Gabe peeked in only to have his eyes go wide at the sight before him.

Small bits of dark-colored origami folded into various forms were floating around in a spherical formation, with quills overflowing with glowing gold ink in the center, occasionally darting forward to decorate the paper with random designs. All of this was illuminated by the twinkling of dozens of tiny blue lights floating in random places about the room.

Pulling his eyes away from the awe-inspiring sight to see who could be controlling such a thing, Gabe was shocked to find the compartment empty, save for one boy who looked to be no older than Gabe himself. Pale blue eyes and light brown hair seemed to glow in contrast to his skin, which almost seemed to absorb the light, casting the boy's features into something that could only be described as hauntingly beautiful.

"Wow…"

The boy jumped at the sound of Gabe's voice and concentration for the spell was broken as the objects fell uselessly to the floor.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Gabe exclaimed to the wide-eyed boy. "How'd you do that!"

The boy's eyes flickered around the compartment, apparently wondering if this was a trick question.

"Err…magic," he answered. "Obviously."

Gabe smiled. "Stupid question. I meant what charms and spells did you use?"

"Oh! Uhm…" the boy looked down at the book in his lap, scanning the page for the names of the spells he had just used.

"What year are you in?" Gabe asked as he fully entered the compartment, sliding the door shut behind him as he went to sit down opposite of the boy.

"This will be my first year," the boy replied, looking up from his book.

"What? No way! You mean to tell me that you've never been to Hogwarts and yet you know how to do complicated spells already?"

The boy blushed, shifting nervously in his seat. "Actually that was just a combination of simple spells…"

"What else can you do?" Gabe asked eagerly.

"Pretty much anything in the first few chapters of this book. I've been practicing since I bought it."

Gabe's eyes widened. "Really? Your parents let you practice? My father banned me from doing any magic after I accidentally blew up the couch while trying out my wand right after I got it."

"You blew up your couch?" the boy snickered. "What spell were you attempting?"

"Well, I wasn't really trying any spell," Gabe admitted. "I figured since I didn't know any magic yet, a little wand waving couldn't hurt."

"Are you nuts? You're lucky no one was seriously injured! What were you thinking, playing around like that?"

"I was having a pretend duel with my little brother. We didn't mean any harm. Luckily, he ducked the second he saw stuff shooting out of my wand."

The sudden brightness caused by the lights flickering on, accompanied by the door sliding open brought an end to the conversation.

"Anything off the cart, dears?"

The boy looked at the cart longingly, but shook his head. "No, thank you."

Gabe simply held up his bag of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. "I'm covered."

"Why are you carrying that bag around, anyways?" the boy asked once the Trolley Lady had left. "Are you afraid someone's going to steal it if you leave it with your other belongings?"

"Nah. This bag actually belongs to some other students, but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Tell you what; I'll share the rest of these sweets in here with you if you show me how you did that little light show."

"It's really not all that hard, I mean, if you just read-"

"I don't want to read. I want you to teach me."

"Teach you? Can't you just wait a few hours until we get to school?"

Gabe smiled and shook his head. "No way. I want to see what else you can do."

"Well…" the boy hesitated.

Grabbing two chocolate frogs from the bag, Gabe moved over so that he was sitting next to the boy.

"I'm Gabriel Malfoy-Potter, by the way," he said, offering the frog.

The boy's eyes widened at Gabe's name before he broke into a large grin.

"Parker Winchester," he said, taking the chocolate and sliding his book over so that Gabriel could have a better look.

* * *

1 – Gushers Fruit Snack: Very muggle, and very much copyrighted. Needless to say, I don't own it, but the commercials of the kids eating it and having their heads turn into giant fruit sort of stuck with me.

2 – Four Course Meal-in-One Chewing Gum: Ever seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Yeah, now I'm jest stealing candy ideas. Hey, does anyone know the actual name of that gum?


	4. Trouble In The Ranks

**Title**: Our First Train Ride  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: M because it's impossible to include Harry with Draco and not have smut.  
**Warning**: Set in the CoF universe  
**Disclaimer**: I may not own Harry Potter and company, but I sure as hell own the children!  
**Author's Note**: I had to bump up the rating on this sucker here cuz of the smut that I found myself adding. I would have left it out, but then my beta would have flown down here and smacked me or something…(Dembo: Damn straight!)

**TROUBLE IN THE RANKS**

Rama sighed. It had been well over four hours since Gabe hand gone off to return the candy, which meant he was either lost (which in Rama's personal opinion, was a somewhat impossible and incomprehensible idea considering thetrain only consisted of one very long corridor), or dead. As unlikely as both options were, Mack and Rama couldn't help but worry after the first two hours of said boy's absence. True, there was always the possibility that he made new friends, but why would he abandon the compartment he worked so hard to gain back?

So naturally they split up to search for their long-lost friend; Mack taking the back half of the train and Rama taking the front.

Before they went their separate ways, Mack warned Rama that while Gabe was very proud and had a slightly inflated ego, he could also be very humble and easily amused.

Rama asked what that had to do with anything, to which Mack replied, "Don't be surprised with whatever situation you may find him in. And if he's in _way_ over his head, just do your best to get him out of it without getting involved."

Rama chose to ignore the second half of that statement since all it did was make him all the more nervous about being the one to find Gabe.

"Hey, are you Wolcott Lupin's little brother?"

Rama turned to see a girl peeking her head out of an open compartment that he had just passed.

When he raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement, she continued, by asking,"Rama, right?"

"Err…yeah."

"I knew it! Oh! I just knew it! Your brother, Wolcott's, been describing you and showing off your picture to everyone he comes across," the girl practically squealed.

"Is he now?" Rama asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes! And the _stories_ he's telling us about when you two were younger…" shegiggled, completely oblivious to Rama's scowl. "He seems very fond of you."

"I'm sure," Rama replieddryly.

The girl laughed again. "You're a lot cuter in person, you know that? Hey, you're not looking for Wolcott by any chance, are you?"

Rama, whose attention had begun to wander, snapped his gaze back to the girl before him.

"Uhm, no, actually. I'm looking for a boy about my age, kind of short, about this tall, pale, thin face, pointy chin, messy black hair with blond tips."

The girl smiled coyly. "Is he as cute as he sounds?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't be looking for him if he was cuter than me."

"Oh my gosh! You and your brother are exactlyalike! He said the _same_ thingwhen he was showing us your pictures!"

"My brother's looking for me?"

"Huh? Oh!No. I'm talking about what he said. 'Are you kidding? I wouldn't be showing you his picture if he were cuter than me,'" the strange girl recited, attempting a really bad imitation of Wolcott's voice (in Rama's opinion anyway).

"But that's not what I said."

The girl rolled her eyes at the remark whileRama merelysmirked.

"So have you seen the kid I'm looking for?" he asked.

"I think I saw someone like that pass by here a while ago... Going in that direction, I believe. What's his name?"

"Malfoy-Potter," Rama said as he turned, leaving a suddenly stunned girl behind without even realizing he was doingso.

Frowning slightly, Rama decided it was time to use his _special_ searching skills. Technically they were his normal searching skills, but to other people they would be considered _special_. If anything, Rama had always believed his skills to be normal and everyone else's skills to be below par. However,since he was now attending Hogwarts, he decided it was okay to let everyone think of him as extraordinary. It would give him a boost over the other students like it had with Wolcott.

Shaking his head from his mental monologue Rama focused on his basic instincts and took a deep breath.

There. Two doors behind him. Turning around and walking back a few paces, heopened the door…

…only to jump back with a yip as a fireball flew past his head,bursting harmlessly against the window behind him.

"Bloody _hell_, Gabriel! That's the eighteenth time you've nearly set something on fire! And you were trying a _water-based _spell! How the hell are you casting fireballs with a water-based spell?!"

"I don't know! I'm doing everything you've told me to do!"

"Let me see your wand movement."

Rama peeked in the doorway justin time to see Gabe irritably wave his wand in seemingly sharp and random directions.

"Well, that's where your problem is. Your movements are too choppy. They need to be smoother when doing water-based spells, like a flowing river."

"Rivers can have choppy rapids."

"A _gentle_ river."

"This is stupid," Gabe complained.

"Well, you're the one who wanted me to teach you. If you think it's so stupid, justgive up."

"No. Show me again."

The other boy sighed and moved to stand slightly behind Gabe, grabbing his wrist to direct his arm movement.

"Like this, see?"

Rama snorted. As far as he could see, Gabe wasn't even trying, considering he seemed to beopting to pay more attention to the hand on his wrist rather than what the other boy was tirelessly attempting to teach the Malfoy-Potter. Perhaps it was time for the super suave Rama Lupinto intervene.

"You two look awfully comfortable. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Guilty gazes snapped towards Rama as both boys jumped apart.

"Rama! What are you doing here?!" Gabe asked.

"Looking for you," Rama replied as he stepped slightlyinto the compartment leaning against the doorframe coolly.

"Why?"

Rama frowned. "Well, for some odd reason Mack grew worried about you after the first two hours."

"Two hours? But it's…oh," Gabe finished lamely as he looked out the window. It was now raining, but despite the cloud-covered sky, it was easy to see the sun was currently setting.

"Hi. Rama Lupin," Rama said, introducing himself seeing as how Gabe obviously wasn't about to do so.

"Parker Winchester," the boy said, nodding in greeting.

Satisfied with the introduction, Rama returned his attention to Gabe. "So, now that I've found you, should I leave you here to play some more, or drag you off kicking and screaming?"

"I guess I should head back. Mack's probably ready to kill me for disappearing for so long. Plus I still need to change. Do you want to come, Parker?"

"No thanks, I need to fix everything of mine that you burned," Parker said as he eyed the numerous scorch marks that decorated the walls.

"I said I was sorry," Gabe said with a pout.

"Yes, well, try not to set your school robes on fire when you're showing everyone what you learned," Parker called out as Gabe and Rama left.

"Hey, was he serious about the fire?" Rama asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Most likely," Gabe said, his tone obviously indicating that he was withholding many rude and biting comments to himself, which was probably only out of respect for Parker's seemingly vast knowledge of magic; something he unconsciously held over Gabe.

Rama smiled, remembering what he saw between the two in the compartment, but decided it best not to remark on it.

"Gabriel!"

Both Gabe and Rama turned.

"Ha! See, I told you it was him! How many freaks at this school have hair like that? Aside from his loser brother, that is," came a voice from the doorway of the compartment nearest to them.

Gabe's carefree mood darkened as he eyed the blond boy leaning against the frame of the compartment door. "And you would be…?"

"Castor Abernathy," the boy replied.

"I see. And how exactly do you know Lief?" Gabe asked, his tone still light and politely inquisitive.

"Who?"

"His brother," Rama said darkly as another boy joined Abernathy.

"So that five-year-old shrimp was really your brother?" the other boy asked, clearly astonished.

"He's seven, for your information. And who are you and when did I give either of you permission to address me so casually?" Gabe said in a superior voice.

Both boys' eyes narrowed and a third boy stepped up to join the group.

"This is Goyle, and I'm Falken, and for your information, your little brother came to us looking for help, so you should show us a little more gratitude," the new boy sneered.

Rama growled. Suddenly, Lief's initial foul mood and worries all made sense now. These boys must have picked on the youngest Malfoy-Potter boyin order for him to have even thought ofhiding under a bench, tears streaming down his face.

"Let me punch him," Rama muttered, his hand already curling into a fist. "I found Lief crying thanks to these jerks."

Gabe put his hand out, indicating Rama to wait.

"He was crying?" Abernathy scoffed. "I didn't even pull his hair that hard."

Gabe's eyes narrowed. "So, you guys say you helped my brother? That's odd, because he didn't mention any of you to me, which means I'm neither grateful, nor in your debt for such generosity. But, due to my upbringing, I'm required to give you my thanks regardless."

The hand Gabe had up drew back as it curled into a fist before flying forward and popping Abernathy in the nose.

"Thanks," Gabe sneered maliciously at the blond, who was now whimpering over a bloodied nose.

He didn't notice Goyle off to the side drawing a fist back, and was quite surprised when Rama shoved him out of the way, taking the punch for him. Quickly recovering, Rama launched himself at Goyle, Gabe close behind to cover his back as Abernathy and Falken jumped in to what was suddenly an all out brawl.

And somewhere in both the noble House of Black and the highly-esteemed Malfoy-Potter Estate, a vase broke (1).

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Lief, Jasmine, and Rose all stood around the broken bits of porcelain that had once been a precious 17th century Dutch vase.

"Kids, what are you up to?"

Heads snapped up as their dad's voice carried down the hall and into the library. Three pairs of wideeyes met and through unspoken agreement, they all dashed outside in a flurry of arms and legs.

Three various voices screamed as they whizzed past their dad: "WE DIDN'T DO IT!!", "WE WERE DEAD AT THE TIME!", and "WE WERE ON THE MOON! WITH SNUFFLES!" before the sound of the front door slamming shut echoed throughout the house.

Harry rolled his eyes at the exclamations as he entered the library, searching for what was broken. Finally spotting the shattered vase on the floor, the ex-Gryffindor sighed. Walking over to the mess, he repaired it with a quick wave of his wand before heading over to his desk to gather up a few books he had placed there the night before to take to Hogwarts as teaching aids.

Books in hand, Harry made his way back up to his bedroom where the remainder of his trunks sat waiting to be closed and sent off to the most prestigious wizarding school in all of Europe. Upon entering the room, however, Harry stopped; something was… _different_.

It took the sight of his husband, Draco Malfoy-Potter, walking up to one of the trunks, pulling out an armload of clothes, and walking into the wardrobe, only to walk back out empty-handed for the soon-to-be professor to register what exactly it was that was unusual about his surroundings.

The room, which had been close to devoid of Harry's personal belongings, now seemed more cluttered; whilst his trunks, that had been close to being over-stuffed with Harry's belongings, were now clearly half-empty.

"Err…Draco? Love? What are you doing, exactly?"

"Unpacking your things," came the curt reply as the blond disappeared back into the wardrobe.

"Why?" Harry asked as he stepped into the room, dumping his books into the nearest open trunk.

"Because," Draco huffed, as he went over to pull the books from the trunk moving to place them neatly on the bookshelf, "I have decided not to let you go to Hogwarts."

"What?! You can't do that!" Harry exclaimed, taking the books back from Draco, only to dump them into another random trunk.

"Watch me," Draco growled as he extracted the books back out of the trunk.

"Draco, you can't just decide last minute to not let me get a job, especially when I've already accepted the position," Harry said as he went into the wardrobe gathering up his previously packed clothes. "They need me at Hogwarts, and I can't just suddenly resign three hours before I start."

"Actually, you resigned about two hours ago. I wrote a letter to Dumbledore, explaining to him that you are perfectly happy with the way your life is now, and that you have a loving and supportive family who-"

"You what?!"

Draco scowled as he grabbed the clothes out of Harry's suddenly unmoving hands, "I _said_ I took care of everything."

"'Supportive family' my ass! You can't sit there and rule my life for me, _Malfoy_!" Harry shouted as he scrambled to take his clothes back before Draco was able to put them back into the wardrobe. "And stop trying to unpack my everything!"

"In case you haven't noticed, _Potter_, I am not sitting, nor am I ruling your life. I kept my mouth firmly closed as you went off and happily decided to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor without even bothering to consult me."

"Yeah, if you're not ruling my life, then what do you call all this?"

"I'm pulling rank," Draco stated as he began dragging one of the already closed trunks towards the foot of their bed.

"You can't go pulling rank when there's no bloody rank to pull!"

Draco simply glared at Harry as he hoisted the trunk up onto the bed, tipping it over and dumping out all the contents before tossing the empty luggage back onto the floor.

"Damn it, Malfoy! If you're so against me getting this job, why didn't you just say something earlier?!" Harry demanded as he started grabbing as many items off of the bed as he possibly could, while Draco did the same.

"Don't you think I tried, Potter? Only every time I brought up the subject you would get this stupid grin on your face and wouldn't shut up about how great it was and how much fun you were going to have going back to that insane asylum," Draco snapped as he made a grab at the pair of pants Harry was reaching for. "What's so bloody great about going back to Hogwarts anyways? You spent half your life there, why the hell do you want to go back now?"

"Because Hogwarts has always been like home to me!" Harry yelled, refusing to give up thehold on his pants.

"Well, _this_ is your home _now_!" Draco shouted back, tugging harder on the pants.

"Yeah, well, I miss it there!" Harry could feel the pants starting to rip, but he refused to give in.

"Damn it, Potter! _I'll_ miss you _here_!" Draco yelled, relinquishing his hold on the pants, causing Harry to stumble back. The ex-Slytherin turned to take a couple steps away from the bed, running his hands frustratingly through his blond locks.

Harry stood staring at his husband in shocked silence. After a few moments, he moved around the bed towardsDraco, who was standing with his back to him.

"Draco…" Harry reached out tentatively and put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Don't!" Draco snarled, flinching away from the touch. Without even bothering to spare Harry a backwards glance, he stormed out of the room, the door magically slamming shut behind him.

"Draco!" Harry quickly went to chase after his husband, but was stopped when the door refused to budge open.

After trying to pry the entrance open a few more times using magical energy combined with strength, Harry was forced to admit defeat as he slumped forward, resting his forehead against the cool wood of the entryway. There was no way for him to compete against emotional magic, especially Draco's, which meant he would now have to wait a while for his husband to cool down before chasing after him.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry went to repack his things almost defeatedly.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

"-don't believe this! This has got to be some sort of record! I mean, none of you have even officially started school yet!"

Gabe scowled at this, but wisely kept his mouth shut. He had been attending a private muggle school in Godric's Hollow before Hogwarts. Sure, it was no highly-esteemed part of the wizarding education system, but thanks to his father, Gabe was positive he could beat any other first year student into the dirt with his academic level of knowledge. That is, ignoring the fact that Mack and Parker would be obvious exceptions.

"-and just because none of you have been sorted into Houses yet doesn't mean you'll be escaping punishment! I've already informed the Headmaster about your outrageous actions, and no doubt detention will be waiting for all of you …"

Gabe went back to zoning out what he now considered to be the world's most annoying voice. This Prefect was far too zealous for his position in Gabe's opinion. The guy had been so caught up in yelling at them about 'proper punishments' and 'dire consequences' that he completely forgot to get their names _and_ see about healing some of their more obvious wounds. Abernathy's nose was still bleeding for Salzaar's sake!

Not that Gabe cared, mind you. That arse deserved every ounce of pain that broken nose gave him, but he was starting to look a little pale from the blood loss, which was obvious cause for concern.

"Hey, Norman? Uhm, Aliya Harrison's here, so you can stop yelling at the kids now," another Prefect said while poking her head in through the doorway.

"Oh! Err…I…I wasn't yelling – I…I was merely disciplining…" Norman flustered.

All five first years gave Norman a deadpanned look that quickly shut him up.

"Hey, sorry it took me so long to get here. A prank got out of hand with some Slytherins, but Johnson's covering that now," the Head Girl informed everyone as she entered the compartment.

"Aliya! I already owled Dumbledore about the situation and I've pretty much taken care of everything while waiting, so there's not much left for you to do," Norman stated eagerly.

"Err…thanks. But don't you think you should have at least healed their wounds first?" Aliya asked as she took out her wand to quickly heal Abernathy's nose before the poor boy passed out.

Norman's cheeks burned red, but he otherwise remained silent as Aliya went around healing various cuts and bruises

"You're Lupin's little brother, aren't you?" Aliya asked as she began to heal Rama's wounds. "Wolcott's a pretty good Chaser. Might even give us Ravenclaws a good chance at the cup this year. Well, that's only if the team captain moves Bakura Higurashi up from substitute and pairs them up like he did for our last game the year before. Those two make quite the team."

Rama simply remained silent, causing the Head Girl to smile sympathetically.

"I wouldn't worry too much about punishment," she said, addressing all the boys. "I mean, yeah, you're in trouble, but it's not like you'll be facing expulsion or anything."

All the first years stayed quiet, still sitting with their heads bowed in shame.

"Right. Well, with that said, you're all free to go," Aliya said as she turned to leave.

"What?! But Aliya, what about-"

"Let them be, Norman. They already feel bad enough," shesaid dismissively as they headed down the corridor.

Rama and Gabe exchanged a glance before both getting up.

"You better watch your back," Goyle threatened lowly, causing both boys to stop.

"Actually, Goyle, considering our obvious differences in rankings for power; in muscle, intellect, _and_ family status, you might want to be the one watching _your_ back," Gabe said with authority.

He then turned to leave, smirking as Rama showed off a nice little hand gesture that he had probably learned from his older brother.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Harry stopped as he heard the door creak open slightly. When no one entered, he knew Draco had finally calmed down enough to be chased after. Packing away the last of his clothes, he scribbled a quick note for Dobby to send his trunks off before he left the room in search of his elusive husband.

The search didn't take long as he found Draco in the second place he looked – the second floor study.

Draco was standing next to the desk with his back firmly to the door looking out of the majestic windows at the scenery below. Harry could hear the faint sounds of children shouting and laughing as he slowly approached the window, and was soon able to see the sight of his remaining three children playing soccer in the front yard againstsome of the neighborhood children with Snuffles barking madly as the soccer ball was kicked between teams.

Rather than going to Draco, Harry went and leaned against the side of the desk behind his husband. He had learned long ago not to go up and try to comfort the blond after such a temper tantrum, his lesson being taught in the form of a powerful left hook to his jaw, rendering him unable to properly talk until Draco was finally calm enough to heal it. So instead, Harry now waited for his presence to be acknowledged, allowing Draco to admit he wanted to be comforted, rather than try to force such a thing upon him.

The two men stood in silence, both watching the cheerful sight of the children they had raised together playing with their friends without a care in the world. Snuffles had decided to get in on the game and somehow managed to fit the soccer ball into his mouth before bounding off happily, eight children chasing after him and screaming for their ball back so they could continue with the game.

Turning his attention away from the sight, Harry watched Draco instead; admiring the way the setting sun cast a red glow on the ex-Slytherin's hair and eyes, effectively helping to hide any other form of emotion other than simple content. But then Draco turned his head towards Harry, and his grey eyes told a completely different story than that which the sunset had painted.

His eyes showed the weariness and experience of one who had spent most of his life alone. True, the loneliness may have disappeared temporarily for several years at a time, but it always seemed to come back. Loneliness Harry had sworn Draco would never have to go through ever again. And yet there it was, clearly presentin Draco's otherwise empty eyes.

No words were exchanged as Draco slowly approached Harry, stopping mere centimeters away before resting his head in the crook of his husband's neck and curling his form into the strong body. Nothing was said as Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's body, pulling him closer still as the blond responded in kind. Several moments passed in silence before Draco looked up, his lips coming forward to meet Harry's in a desperate, yet passionate kiss. Moans were withheld as Harry reached behind him, clearing the desk with one sweep of a clumsy arm as Draco's kisses became rougher and more demanding, completely baring the desperation within his tortured soul. A soul that was crying out for its own selfish love.

Allowing himself to be pushed back, Harry gasped as a muscular thigh wedged itself between his legs only to begin moving up and down in a tortuous rhythm, bringing Harry's half-hard erection to full salute. A moan responded to the reaction and Draco withdrew his leg and repositioned himself so that their arousals were aligned, grinding against one another, stoking the fires within them to a roaring passion that no amount of water, or magic, could extinguish.

Not wasting any time, Draco slid his desperate hands under Harry's shirt, fingers moving sensually against the toned stomach and chest as he drew the fabric up before pulling it over the Gryffindor's head, only to toss the garment in some random direction before moving down to claim the body that was supposed to be his.

Harry belonged to _him_, damn it! Not that ruddy school that broke apart families for a minimum of seven years at a time. Draco had gone through a lifetime's worth of emotions trying to claim and keep Harry, and the prize had been well worth the fight. He'd be damned if he let anything, _anything_ take this away from him now.

A hiss of pain alerted Draco that he had bit down harder than intended and he quickly licked the spot as a half-hearted apology before moving further down the tanned stomach, giving the skin sharp nips as he moved towards his main goal.

Not wasting any time in removing both his and Harry's pants, Draco watched his lover with a look that had always irked Harry to no end. A possessive gaze, so clearly screaming '_MINE!_' that it would send unpleasant shivers down anyone's back.

Harry met the look with unwavering eyes as he was prepared and stretched onlybreaking the gaze as he was roughly pushed into, arching his back and grabbing Draco's shoulders as the blond instantly began to pound into his tight body, letting all his anger and frustration at the unfairness of it all be known. He held on as Draco claimed every inch of him, rapidly bringing him to that point of ecstasy that went beyond any normal means of pleasure.

Draco knew Harry was close. He could feel it. But damn it all, he never wanted this to end. He knew that as soon as it did, it would turn into nothing more than a faded memory as Harry's time to leave would inevitably arrive.

Feeling his own orgasm creep upon him, Draco fueled his emotions into the physical act, speeding up his pace as he slammed into the writhing body beneath him. He wouldn't allow it. He'd find a way to keep them together. Hell, he'd storm the bloody castle and take over if he'd have to. No one would separate them! No one-!

A startled gasp punctuated his thoughts as his body tensed and released, forcing him to let go of his anger and convictions – if even for a moment – and remember the true love he held beneath the possessive streak.

Draco collapsed down on top of Harry, not caring about the sticky mess already cooling between them. As he rode the wave of post-orgasmic bliss, he promised himself with the utmost conviction that he would never be alone. Not anymore.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

"I can't believe it," Mack repeated dumbly for the fifth time.

The three boys had finally met up back in their own compartment, where they changed into their school robes before Gabe proceeded to spill his guts over everything that had happened since he had left with the bag of candy.

"I know! She actually mentioned expulsion as if we were actually worried about such a punishment!" Gabe proclaimed.

"Rama, I told you to get Gabe out of there, not jump in and start the fight _for_ him," Mack scolded.

Rama simply shrugged as he continued to stare out of the rain speckled window at the pitch black sky.

Gabe frowned. "You've been awfully quiet since those Prefects ended the fight. Are you really worried about how much trouble we're going to be in? Because if you are, my dad can-"

"It's not that," Rama interrupted. "Any punishment I get will be well worth the flogging we gave those dickheads. It's just that…well…I wanted to throw the first punch."

"What?! Are you serious? Rama, you beat two of those gits up by yourself and you're sulking over the fact that I threw the first punch?!"

Rama didn't reply, but his pout seemed to emphasize his point. Gabe's mouth momentarily hung open in disbelief before frustrated bickering ensued between the two boys.

Mack simply rolled his eyes at the both of them; sincerely hoping word of the fight didn't reach his mother's ears. The last thing he needed was a letter from her lecturing him on something he had no part in to begin with. Quickly growing bored, Mack looked out the window only to have his eyes grow wide at the fact that he could see something other than pitch black.

"Guys! Shut up! We're here!"

Both Rama and Gabe turned their heads to catch their first glimpse of their new home. Hogwarts.

* * *

_Reyn's Note_: (1) – For those of you who don't know, a broken vase or teacup is a bad omen of harm or bad luck befalling a loved one. And when you sneeze, it means someone is talking about you. And if you break a mirror, it's seven years bad luck. And if you see a Grim, death for you is imminent. (Continues to rattle off while wandering into the distance.) And if you slap someone on the left cheek, it means you want to marry them. And if you pick up a knife someone drops, even a butter knife, it means you have to duel them. And if you put a Spork in your mouth, it means you love someone. And if you-

_Dembo's Note_: (smacks Reyn in the back of the head with a pot of tea) And if you hit someone with a pot of tea they go unconscious! (wanders off now that it's finally quiet)


	5. The Sorting

**Title**: Our First Train Ride  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: M thanks to the last chapter  
**Warning**: Set in the CoF universe  
**Disclaimer**: I may not own Harry Potter and company, but I sure as hell own the children! Oh, and I don't own any of the Eddie Izzard references.  
**Author's Note**: So yeah...one of the reasons this chapter is so late is because in the first draft, I unintentionally turned all the adults into crackpots. So I had to fix that. There are other reasons this chapter is over a year late, but those aren't nearly as interesting.

**THE SORTING**

"Gabe? You okay?"

"Merlin's beard, I've never been so terrified in all my life."

Rama snickered. "I'll say. I honestly thought you were going to wet yourself when he singled you out and put his hand on your shoulder."

Gabe shot his new friend a dirty look. "How the hell was I supposed to know that was Hagrid? When Dad and Father told me about him, it was like they were describing two entirely different people!"

"I dunno…he kind of reminds me of Santa Claus," Mack said thoughtfully. "If his beard were whiter, of course."

"Yeah, if Santa had been attacked by a bloody werewolf in one of the biggest wars of the history of wizards!" Gabe exclaimed. "Did you not see the scar that ran behind the eye patch? Or what about his wooden leg! And did you see the hand that he touched me with? It was missing two fingers! TWO fingers!!"

"So how exactly does this Sorting thing work?" Rama asked loudly, abruptly changing the subject of everyone's conversation.

"What do you think?" one nervous first year asked.

"I don't know…"

"Maybe they line us up and have us count off…?"

"Maybe they ask you to perform a simple spell in front of a panel of judges and they sort you based on how well you do," another student said thoughtfully.

"What? But I don't know any spells yet!"

A familiar snicker suddenly reached Gabe's ears and he turned to be presented with the sight of Parker standing by himself next to the wall.

"I think we all know what house Gabriel would be sorted into if that were the case," Parker said in reply to the eyebrow raised in question.

"Oh?" Gabe asked challengingly. "And what house would that be?"

"The Disastrous House of Horrendous Pipsqueak Spellers," Parker replied cheekily.

Mack blinked. "…DHOHPS?"

"'Dopes?' Who's a dope?" Rama asked, suddenly giving the conversation at hand his full attention.

"Apparently, Gabe's the dope," Mack answered.

"I am _not_ a dope! And I'm not a pipsqueak either! _And_ my spells are not disastrous _or_ horrendous!" Gabe said furiously, adding afterthought to afterthought.

"Blimey, you're amazing," Mack said to Parker wondrously. "I've never met a person who could include so many insults in one breath and target them at Gabe without him catching it in the first few seconds."

"Shut up," Gabe growled, a light blush being sported on his cheeks.

"So, my older brother told me they use a device that sucks out your darkest, most embarrassing secret for the Sorting," Rama said, returning to the original topic.

"Oh yeah? Well, my uncles told me you have to wrestle a troll," Mack whispered conspiratorially.

"How does wrestling a troll help to determine your house?" Parker asked skeptically.

"Yeah…that's what I said. So I knew they were only joking," Mack flustered, determined to save face.

Gabe snorted and was about to open his mouth to call Mack on his obvious lie when the double doors opened before them. Out stepped the same lady who had led them here from the docks, Professor McGonagall, who eyed the students for a moment before curtly ordering them to follow her.

Wordlessly, the group obeyed the command, trying their best not to look too stupid as they entered the Great Hall with their mouths hanging open, taking in the amazing new environment they were about to call home.

It was _huge_! Half of the House of Black could easily have fit into the Great Hall alone. This place was like a bloody castle! Rama then frowned as he remembered that Hogwarts _was_ in fact a castle before grinning again. Wicked! He was going to school in a castle!

Completely oblivious to the myriad of expressions playing across his friend's face, Mack's focus was on the ceiling – or more specifically, the floating candles. Even from this distance, there was clear evidence of melting. So if the candles melted, where did the wax fall to? Surely it wasn't allowed to drip down onto the students! But then again, judging from the height they were at, the wax was probably cooled by the time it reached everyone, so it wouldn't burn. However, it would be a nuisance to have candle droppings in your food…True, a bit of wax wouldn't hurt you, but to digest it on a daily basis? That definitely couldn't be good for your health.

Gabe, on the other hand, could've cared less about the ponderings of ingesting the stuff that came out of a bee's butt (but if asked, he would have been more than willing to grace Mack with his opinion of: "What? You sodding tart! Ew!").No, at the moment he was struggling to swallow down a sudden (and rare) attack of nervousness.

Yes, he _had_ gone to school before Hogwarts, and it too had been a private school, but the head count had been nowhere _near_ this large. In fact, the Malfoy-Potter was quite sure he had never been in a crowd of this size ever. And worse, they were all only a few years older than him! Oh Merlin, what if some of them tried to bully him! It could happen! He was the infamous son of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, after all. The other kids were bound to be jealous.

Ah! See! He was getting stares already!

Once the group reached the front of the Great Hall, McGonagall motioned for the first years to spread out a bit so they could all have an equal view of the professors' table before she disappeared off to the side.

It was here that Gabe truly began to panic. What if that one girl was right and they _did_ have to show off their magic in front of not only the teachers, but the rest of the school as well? He had nearly set Parker's train compartment on fire fifteen times! FIFTEEN! What would happen if he set the Headmaster's beard on fire? Or worse! The whole school! Oh, he'd be the laughing stock of the entire country for years to come. They probably wouldn't eve let his _grand_children attend-

"Now, when I call your name, please step forward and sit on the stool," McGonagall instructed, breaking Gabe away from his mental dramatics. "This hat will then be placed on your head and from there you will be sorted into one of the four esteemed houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin.

"Well that's rather anti-climactic," Rama muttered a bit loudly, earning himself a stern look from the Headmistress.

"Castor Abernathy," McGonagall called out, her eyes remaining on Rama a moment longer before shifting over to the blond boy approaching her.

"That's it?" Gabe asked in disgust as he watched the hat being placed on Abernathy's head. "They're going to make us _wear_ that ratty old thing? But it looks like it's infected with germs!"

Mack turned to look at his old friend, blinking in amazement. "You haven't been paying attention at all, have you?"

"Yes I have!" Gabe exclaimed, clearly affronted. "She said we have to sit on that stool and wear the dirty hat!"

"The 'dirty hat' broke into a song just a few minutes ago, mate," Rama whispered. "How did you _miss_ that?"

Gabe scowled. "Fine. The magical _singing _dirty hat. It's still filthy, and I'm still against putting it on my head."

"You wuss," Mack muttered. "Just wash your hair before you go to bed or something."

Pouting, Gabe returned his attention to the front, where the hat gave the loud cry of 'HUFFLEPUFF!' before the dark haired boy underneath it jumped up and headed over to the table cheering the loudest.

"Vega Falken."

Fine. The magical, singing, _shrieking,_ hat. It was still filthy, and until they cleaned it, Gabe decided he wasn't going to let himself be impressed.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Great. Two out of three of his archenemies had been placed in Slytherin. Goyle (who had yet to be sorted) wasn't a complete stranger to Gabe, the two having bumped into one another on the extremely rare event of the fairer head of the Malfoy-Potter household accepting a party invitation and bringing someone other than himself along. Based on those few meetings alone, Gabe was positive Goyle would be placed in-

"SLYTHERIN!"

Damn. As pleasant of a house as his father had made it seem, Gabe was quite sure he no longer wanted any part of it. Unless, of course, they agreed to be his cronies. But first they would have to get on their hands and knees and beg for his forgiveness for bullying Lief.

Next up was a blond hair, blue eyed boy by the name of Leonis Griffin, who was sorted into Gryffindor barely a second after he sat on the stool.

"Rama Lupin."

At the sound of the young boy's name, the hushed squealing of a great many females seemed to ripple throughout the hall, before quickly falling silent in tense anticipation.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Shrill screams pierced the air, nearly all of them coming from the red and gold side of the large roomas the rest of the female population nearly wept in defeat. Geez, Rama's brother must be a popular guy.

"Gabriel Malfoy-Potter."

The shrill screams rapidly dissolved into conspiratorial whispers as Gabe stepped up to sit on the stool. He barely even caught a glimpse of the numerous sets of eyes upon him before the world was covered in darkness

The stupid hat didn't even fit!

"Well of _course_ I don't fit! I was hardly made for a head as tiny as yours."

Gabe nearly leapt out of his skin at the small voice speaking directly into his ear. Just because he was a bit short for his age didn't mean his head was tiny!

A chuckle sounded. "Yes, it does. All first years' heads are tiny to me. But then again, Godric Gryffindor did have a rather large crown …"

Gabe's eyes widened. Was the hat reading his mind?

"Of course I'm reading your mind, how else would I figure out what house to put you in? Now do shut up and let me have a look at you. Your thinking is quite distracting."

Stupid singing, shouting, mind reading, _dirty_ hat…

"Ah! A Malfoy-Potter, eh?" the hat exclaimed, ignoring the insult. "Now there's something I don't think anyone ever saw coming! Slytherin blood definitely runs strong in you."

'_But I don't want to be in Slytherin.' _

"Eh? Why not? The Malfoy line has always produced Slytherins."

'_But what about the Potter line?' _

"What about it?" the hat asked, seemingly disgruntled at being questioned.

'_Weren't they Gryffindors?'_

The hat was quiet for a moment. "Your dad was almost placed in Slytherin."

Gabe gasped in surprise. _'No he wasn't! Was he really? How did he end up in Gryffindor then?' _

"Yes, he was, but you'll have to ask him about it. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the _Sorting_ hat, not the _Discussion_ hat, so if you don't mind-"

'_Not Slytherin!' _

Gabe could have sworn he felt the hat sigh. "Pray tell, child, why not?"

'_Because I don't want Lief to see me lumped with the boys who bullied him.' _

"Oh come now, Slytherins aren't all bad. You can't judge an entire house based on a few bad apples."

'_I don't care.' _

"Ugh, this is why I hat staying on a Malfoy's head for more than a few seconds. You all are so stubbornly prude."

'_Look, you bloody ignoramus, I don't want to be a Slytherin, and if you put me there, I swear to you, I will hunt you down and set you on fire with a water-based spell!'_ Gabe mentally snapped.

Silence.

"…How is that even possible?"

'_Trust me, it is,'_ Gabe growled dangerously.

If it were able to, the Sorting Hat would have gulped.

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Severus Snape scowled as 'Lupin' was immediately followed by 'Malfoy-Potter'. Three years ago, the Potions master nearly had a heart attack when he learned Reums Lupin's eldest son would be attending Hogwarts. Not only that, but Sirius Black had been listed as a guardian as well.

Severus had actually been rather hesitant to enter his first year class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, terrified that the boy might have picked up Black's rotten personality thanks to his living under the same roof. Luckily, this was not the case as the professor quickly learned that Wolcott Lupin very much took after his father when it came to class time and studying. Severus could only pray that this new Lupin was the same, despite the sinking feeling he got when looking at the boy and his friends, a tell-tale sign that he was about to spend the next seven years being haunted by a second generation of marauders.

Hopefully, Draco had done a good enough job of raising his child, regardless of Potter's influence.

The empty chair beside Severus – reserved for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor – suddenly scooted out on its own, effectively distracting the Potions master as his head snapped to look at the oddity.

His shocked stare melted into a suspicious glare as the soft swishing of cloth could be heard before the chair gave several scoots forward before it was back to its original position.

"Potter?"

A loud bang from under the table caused the dishes to rattle; almost as if someone had just been startled out of their wits by a scarier-than-death voice.

Ha, so it was Potter.

"You're late," Snape hissed, drawing back in a bored manner, almost tempted to take away House points as he was once so accustomed to doing back when the boy was still a student.

"Sorry, Professor," the still-invisible Harry answered out of habit. "…Uhm, i-is this seating arrangement permanent, or is it usually first come…first…right, stupid question, never mind."

Severus mentally smirked, glad that staring at the bit of space where Potter's head should be was so unnerving; probably because the boy was so used to not being seen in his Invisibility Cloak.

"I find the arrangement just as loathsome as you do, I assure you," he replied, turning his attention back to the ceremony.

"Right. So, er, how is the Sorting coming along?"

Merlin, help him, the boy wanted to make small talk.

"Your son has been holding things up for nearly five minutes now," Severus found himself answering. "I don't suppose you could tell me why?"

Five minutes? That had to be a record of some sort! The hat was usually pretty quick with figuring out which house to put a student in, if Harry remembered correctly. In fact, the only reason he himself had spent a minute or so being sorted during his first year was because he had begged the hat to not place him in Slytherin.

…Interesting. Did this mean Gabe was fighting to be put in a certain house? Damn…When Draco had made that bet with him over whose footsteps Gabe would follow, neither man even thought of asking for their son's opinion. Harry could only hope Gabe was arguing to be put in-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Yes!"

Snape groaned. "This going to be a long year…"

**Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!**

Cheers went up around Rama, and if he had seen who they were rooting for, he would have gladly joined. But at the moment, he really didn't care. His stomach was rumbling and his plate was empty.

When were they going to feed him? _How_ were they going to feed him? Were they even _going_ to feed him? If every meal was going to take this long, they should at least offer appetizers or something.

Rama peeked under his plate. Nope, still nothing. Not even a morsel. The boy let out a whine as his mouth began to salivate. _Food_…

"Hey, Rama!" Gabe greeted happily as he plonked down next to his friend.

The youngest Lupin merely grumbled something in reply before crossing his arms over his plate and resting his chin on them, his gaze roving over everyone else in the Great Hall in hopes of spotting some bit of food. When his sight landed on his older brother, he instantly lifted his head and leaned forward a bit, as if trying to get a better look at what he was seeing.

Yes, sure enough, Wolcott Lupin was sitting over at the Ravenclaw table eating a chocolate biscuit while watching the Sorting with keen interest.

_A chocolate biscuit!_ That traitor! He brought his own food with him and didn't even think to warn his helpless, innocent little brother! How depraved!

Perking up, Rama whirled around to face Gave, ignoring the concerned question of 'Are you alright?' in favor of asking, "Gabe! _Please_ tell me you still have some food left over from that bag on the train!"

"Er…I'm sure there was, but I left it in Parker's compartment when you came to fetch me," Gabe replied uncertainly, feeling a little thrown at his friend's sporadic behavior.

"You _left_ it?" Rama hissed. "It was free food! Why would you-?! Oh, I'm going to starve to _death_ before the night is over…" he groaned, letting his head fall back on his still empty plate as a third round of applause went up since Gabe had joined him.

"You won't starve to death," Gabe said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "I'm sure we'll get dinner once the Sorting is over."

"But it's taking so _loo-oong_," Rama complained, a yawn interrupting his sentence.

"Then take a nap if you're going to be grumpy about it," Gabe snapped, growing a little nervous at the angry looks being sent their way for not shutting up while the Sorting continued.

"Mmkay…" Rama muttered, as he did just that.

Back up on stage, the crowd of first years dwindled down to three as the hat announced **"**HUFFLEPUFF!**"** and Trinity Triete was called up next.

By this point, Mack Weasley was growing restless, seeing as how his last name started with a 'W' and all.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ebony Twilight."

Oh Merlin, he was next! Well, either him or the girl off to the side, or the boy next to him who called Gabe a dope earlier. Okay, all he had to do was go up there when his name was called, _not_ trip over his own feet, sit on the stool, get sorted into Gryffindor, get off the stool, and _not_ trip over his own feet. Just be cool. He was fine. He was good. Not nervous at all. Nope.

And this whole thing sounded easy enough. Right? Right.

"-easley. ...Mr. Weasley?"

Parker looked over at the only other remaining boy as the Headmistress repeated his name for the third time. Giving the redhead a soft nudge with his elbow, Parker snapped the boy out of whatever daydream he was in and watched with amusement as Weasley stumbled forward, tripped over the steps, nearly toppled the stool over in his haste to sit down, and squeezed his eyes shut as the hat was placed on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Applause sounded as the loudest cheers seemed to be coming for all those with ginger hair within the Great Hall.

"Cami Wendall."

Parker patiently clasped his hands behind his back as he was left alone, waiting his turn.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Parker Winchester."

Briefly locking eyes with the professor as his name was announced, Parker felt his legs move of their own accord as he walked up to the stool, the words of his father echoing through his head.

"_Hogwarts? Good. Excellent, indeed. Make me proud, son."_

As his field of vision was blocked by the inside of the Sorting Hat, Parker was determined not to let the man down.

"Are you now?" a soft voice whispered in his ear. "And what exactly would such a task consist of?"

'_Success,_' Parker answered without thought. '_To be the best_.'

The voice chuckled. "Ah, sometimes this job is far too easy. I don't even have to look at your mind to know where you belong..." the hat trailed off before immediately continuing aloud with, "SLYTHERIN!"

A round of clapping (louder, now that the Sorting was _finally _over) covered the furious shout coming from the Gryffindor table.

"What?!? No way! I demand a do-over! You bloody corrupt hat!"

"Each new year at Hogwarts," Headmaster Dumbledore stated once the cheering had died down, "is filled with new experiences, new chances to grow, and the occasional lemon drop that life is known to throw at us even in the best of times."

It was here that Gabe decided his father had been right about the Headmaster. This man definitely belonged in Africa so he could babble with the baboons.

Silence met the pause within the opening speech.

An older student at the Gryffindor table leaned in and softly asked, "Does he mean 'the occasional _lemon_ that life is known to throw at us'…?"

Up at the teacher's table, McGonagall could be seen leaning towards Dumbledore, presumably whispering the same thing.

"Welcome, everyone!" the elder wizard greeted merrily, once the private conversation was over. "It's good to be back! Now then, as per Hogwarts tradition, I ask that you all stand up, pick your favorite tune, and sing it to our school's song."

With a flick of the wrist, the lyrics were there, and the entire hall burst into a cacophony of sound, effectively startling the sleeping Rama awake.

Looking around, the young Lupin promptly got to his feet upon seeing that everyone else was already standing. After listening for a bit, he then figured out that all the students were singing (albeit badly), and he instantly felt the overpowering urge to join in.

Picking only a few choice lyrics out of the entire song, Rama proceeded to sing at the top of his lungs; complete with the big eyes, big mouth, and making sure to hit all the right syllables. "Hooogwaaarts! Hoooogy Hooooogwaaaarts! Waaarty Hoooooogwaaaaaarts! Hoooooooogwaaaaaaarts! Hoooooooooogwaaaaaarts! Hooooooooooog! …WAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTS!"

Cheers went up at the powerful, opera-like finish, none more powerful than the Headmaster himself.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Dumbledore cried. "Now then, a few start-of-the-term notices."

A small sheet of paper was pulled out and read from.

"New students should note that the Forbidden Forest is off limits due to the very mortal dangers it holds, and a few returning students are reminded that the forest starts at the tree line and _not_ a kilometer in.

"The ban on all Weasley Wizarding Wheezes products has been lifted-" a momentary pause as the student body rejoiced, "-due to a formal complaint submitted by its founders. However, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would like for me to remind you all that just because the product-wide ban was lifted, bans on the specific items stated in prior years, sadly enough, remain intact. If you find yourself forgetful of which items this restriction entails, a full list can be found in his office."

The Headmaster then fell silent as he quietly read whatever else was on the parchment before he seemingly decided whatever it was wasn't important enough to be announced and tucked it away.

"Several of you may have noticed that our former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Tryst, is no longer with us. Sadly enough, she has resigned her position after becoming enraptured with a vampire she was hunting at the start of the summer holidays. But, she would like to reassure her students that she can still be reached by owl if any of you wish to keep correspondence.

"Here to fill her place is none other than Hogwarts alumni, Harry Malfoy-Potter!"

Excited gasps and whispers spread across the four House tables like wildfire as many students looked around in confusion as to where the infamous man may be.

Completely oblivious to this, Harry stood and gave a little wave, feeling glad that such a big deal wasn't being made over his arrival.

"Potter, you idiot," Snape snapped from his side. "Take the bloody cloak off!"

"Wha…? Ah! Right!"

Having your professor shimmer before you out of thin air had to be the best entrance ever - one that easily deserved a standing ovation. The students were beside themselves at the thought of getting to spend the school year with, arguably, the most famous wizard since Merlin himself.

"Holy Morganna! Your dad is _the_ Harry Potter?!" Rama exclaimed, the knowledge of his friend's last name finally sinking in.

"It's _Malfoy_-Potter," Gabe growled.

"Blimey, that makes you his son, doesn't it!" Mack gasped in feigned surprise. "Can I have your autograph?"

Gabe scowled. "Funny."

"No, I'm serious," Mack insisted. "This way I can wave it around at all the other students and say, 'Yeah, he's my best mate.'"

Rama's jubilant proclamation of "FOOD!" interrupted whatever retort Gabe was about to make as the table between them was suddenly filled with a dinner fit for a parade of kings.

Instantly, Rama dove towards the platter of chicken legs, only to stop short of grabbing one.

Noticing his friend's hesitation and narrowed eyes, Mack opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, only to let out an undignified shriek as a ghost popped up _right out of the chicken!_

"Oi, nobody eat the chicken legs!" one Gryffindor student called out from further down the table. "Nick's contaminated them!"

"Well, it was the only logical thing _to_ contaminate, seeing as how it's the only dish surrounded by all the new first years," the ghost replied with only his upper half revealed as he rested his arms in the garnish surrounding the poultry.

"Who are you?" Rama asked suspiciously, not at all pleased that his food (yes, _his_, as he had deemed the entire platter) was currently occupied in the body of a ghost.

"I am Sir Nicholas de P-"

"Don't mind him," another student replied. "He's just Nearly Headless Nick."

Blank stares met the introduction, forcing the fourth year to continue her explanation.

"His head was _nearly_ chopped off by a blunt axe in an attempt to make him _headless_ way back when he was killed."

A chorus of 'oohhh's was sounded in understanding, much to the displeasure of the ghost. With a groan, he slumped over, causing his head to lose balance and fall over, revealing the large severed chunk of his neck.

"Oh no, don't mind me at all," Nick replied remorsefully to the disgusted squeals. "I'll just stay here and mope for a bit at the lack of respect from children these days."

"Sir Nicholas," a stern voice from behind Gabe and Rama greeted, causing both boys to whirl around.

"Professor McGonagall, you're looking wonderfully alive this fine evening," Nick greeted in return, his head still dangling.

A tiny smile graced the professor's lips before going stern again. "You, too," she said before looking down at the two boys before her. "Misters Lupin and Malfoy-Potter, if you would come with me please."

"But can't we fin-"

A sharp look killed Gabe's request to finish his dinner as he quickly stood, ready to go.

Hesitating for only a split second, Rama stood as well, reaching through Nearly Headless Nick to grab as many drumsticks as he could hold, hoisting one of his legs over the bench to show that he was ready to go.

Not even batting a lash at Rama's eccentric act, McGonagall started to lead the way out before turning to see the young Lupin second guessing himself and rushing back to dump all of the drumsticks back, choosing instead to bring the entire platter with him and saying a quick "sorry" for having to reach through Sir Nicholas' body twice.

Sighing to herself, Minerva looked across the hall where she could see Severus gathering up three Slytherins, and couldn't help but mutter to herself, "And so it starts…"


End file.
